Synopsis

With a new species being discovered every three days, the Amazon rainforest is one of the richest ecosystems in the world, containing everything from jaguars, howler monkeys, night monkeys, macaws, and a myriad of insects. The discovery of the flora and fauna here gives wildlife photographer Cyril Ruoso the opportunity to photograph and highlight many extraordinary species, all of whom are equipped with an incredible capacity to adapt and flourish in this most extreme environment. Arriving in the heart of the Pacaya-Samiria, one of the last preserved regions of the Amazon, Cyril and French ecologist Anne Grégoire meet Richard Bodmer and his scientific team. This is Cyril’s chance to closely observe the famous pink dolphins who are known to take refuge in the shallow rivers to give birth to their young in dry season. Cyril and Anne later find themselves at Ikamperu Sactuary, an association created by Peruvian Carlos Palomino and French native Hélène Collonges, who have made it their mission to take in orphaned monkeys and help introduce them back into the wild. Anne also participates in a hydrometric survey with a group of scientists at the Amazon River. These hydrologists are observing the river’s high flow rate, which is an extreme and recurring phenomenon. Whether it is flooding or drying up, these events are becoming more and more devastating to the animal and plant life here, which seem to be linked to global warming. Continuing her journey through the Amazon, Anne also meets Peruvian climatologist James Apestagui in the Palestina Cave. Finding evidence of the Amazon’s past climate conditions through the solidification of limestone, she discovers that the rainforest has not always looked like what it is today. The Amazon was once a vast inland sea and a swamp whose conditions ressembled an African savannah. It is thus the succession of these environments that seem to have dictated the extraordinary animal and plant diversity that is now present today. The journey continues into the forest growing in the Andean foothills. Small crooked trees covered with lichens and moss, unusual varieties of orchids, and brightly feathered Andean cock-of-the-rocks are just some of the examples of species that depend on this environment where rainfall is the most essential. Cyril and Anne finally join Canadian scientist Mathieu Chouteau to learn more about poison dart frogs: tiny amphibians – just a few centimeters in length – whose skin contains a toxin that is extremely poisonous... 250 times more poisonous than curare! Using a macro lens, Cyril is able to take several superb shots of these brightly-colored frogs, demonstrating that even the smallest species of the Amazon should not go unnoticed.

Awards

Sélections

• International Greenscreen Film Festival (Germany)
• Festival de l'oiseau et de la nature (Abbeville, France)